| Gian Gastone | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Portrait by Franz Ferdinand Richter[1] | |||||
| Grand Duke of Tuscany | |||||
| Reign | 31 October 1723 – 9 July 1737 | ||||
| Predecessor | Cosimo III | ||||
| Successor | Francis II Stephen | ||||
| Born | 25 May 1671 Palazzo Pitti, Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany | ||||
| Died | 9 July 1737 (aged 66) Palazzo Pitti, Florence, Tuscany | ||||
| Burial | July 1737 | ||||
| Spouse | |||||
| |||||
| House | Medici | ||||
| Father | Cosimo III de' Medici | ||||
| Mother | Marguerite Louise d'Orléans | ||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||
| Signature | .png){kind=small} | ||||
Gian Gastone de' Medici (born Giovanni Battista Gastone; 25 May 1671 – 9 July 1737) was the seventh and last Medicean grand duke of Tuscany.
He was the second son of Grand Duke Cosimo III and Marguerite Louise d'Orléans.[2] His sister, Electress Palatine Anna Maria Luisa, arranged his marriage to the wealthy and widowed Anna Maria Franziska of Saxe-Lauenburg in 1697. The couple despised each other and had no children. As Grand Prince Ferdinando, Gian Gastone's elder brother, predeceased Cosimo III, Gian Gastone succeeded his father in 1723.
His reign was marked by the reversal of his predecessor's conservative policy; he abolished taxes for poorer people, repealed penal laws which restricted Jews and discontinued public executions.[3] The Medici were wanting in male heirs; his father, Cosimo III, wanted the Electress Palatine to succeed Gian Gastone. However, Spain, Great Britain, Austria and the Dutch Republic disregarded Cosimo's plan and appointed Charles of Spain—whose mother, Elisabeth Farnese, was a great-granddaughter of Margherita de' Medici—Gian Gastone's heir.[4] Charles later transferred his claim to Francis Stephen of Lorraine pursuant to a preliminary peace that was finalized in 1738.[5] Francis Stephen duly succeeded at Gian Gastone's demise, on 9 July 1737, ending almost 300 years of Medici rule over Florence. For the latter part of his reign, Gian Gastone chose to remain confined in his bed, tended by his entourage, the Ruspanti.[6]
- ^ A peri-wigged man is resplendent in gold, ermine-fringed coronation robes. The man holds the royal sceptre of Tuscany in his right hand; at the same time clenching the royal crown. The cross of the order of Saint Stephen Pope and Martyr adorns his neck. The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore lies crumbling against a dark sky outside the window.
- ^ Young, p 460
- ^ Hale, J.R., p 191
- ^ Young, p 481
- ^ Hale, p 192
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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